A Brother's Love
by Beregond5
Summary: TF:A. Sequel to Never Forget, Never Forgive. Set after the Elite Guard episode. Prowl hears a story that leaves him embittered... while Jazz learns something more about his new friend.


Ever since they had ended up on Earth, Optimus and the others always believed and hoped that a rescue team would come for them, along with reinforcements to fight the Decepticons. Still, when Ultra Magnus arrived on Earth with two members of the Elite Guard, the stranded crew was almost overwhelmed with joy, for help had arrived just when there didn't seem to be any more hope left. True, Optimus and his team had to tolerate Sentinel Prime's hypochondriac behaviour towards anything organic. Jazz, however, was a decent enough bot who was eager to know as much about Earth as possible - once he ignored Sentinel's hysterics, that is. Even Ultra Magnus seemed curious about planet Earth and its inhabitants, although his dignified position of commander didn't allow him to show the same excitement as Jazz.

That was why, just a few nights after the Elite Guard landed on Earth, Ultra Magnus, Jazz and Sentinel were inside the old factory that Optimus and his team called base; they wished to see how their stranded companions survived all this time after their disappearance from Cybertron's area. Optimus showed Ultra Magnus around, while the other members welcomed Sentinel and Jazz as friends. Unfortunately for Sentinel, though, Sari was there too, something that made him cringe quite visibly.

"Great. Just what I needed to see," he muttered under his breath.

"I can hear you, you know," Sari pointed out, glaring unafraid at the huge bot before settling on the huge rock that served as a makeshift couch. "Come on," she added, patting on the spot next to her, beckoning Sentinel to sit.

Sentinel took a step back. "Uh… No thanks. I'd rather stand."

"Then don't mind if I do!" Bumblebee exclaimed, and plopped himself on the couch with a big grin on his faceplate. Bulkhead was the next one to settle down, and then Ratchet, muttering something that sounded awfully like 'Move over, I need my space'. Prowl took a seat nearby, while Jazz sat on a chair next to his fellow ninjabot. It was no secret that those two had become friends from day one; they had a lot of things in common, such as their love for the martial arts and the beauties Earth provided. As for Sentinel, he stayed true to his word. He simply rested his back against the wall and crossed his arms, keeping his distance from Sari.

Still, if anyone was hardly fazed by that kind of display, it was Bumblebee. In fact, the yellow bot kept talking with a big grin on his face, gesturing wildly in his excitement.

"Man, I can't tell you guys how glad I am that you're finally here," he said. "Things were starting to get really rough on us."

That earned Bumblebee a snort, courtesy of Sentinel Prime. "Well, someone had to help you incompetent wannabe heroes after the mess you made out of things," he said. "Primus knows you cost us enough time, trying to find you and all."

"Speaking of which, how _did _you get here?" Bulkhead asked, optics reflecting his confusion. "Even _we _didn't know where here was when we first woke up."

"Now that's actually a good question," Ratchet said, and eyed the two members of the Elite Guard, especially Sentinel.

Sentinel made a nonchalant motion as if dusting some sort of dirt off his shoulder. "You obviously underestimate the resourcefulness and ingenuity that goes with being part of the Elite Guard."

Jazz cleared his vocaliser. "Actually, what SP means is that a kid gave us a pretty good idea on how to locate you."

"I meant no such thing!" Sentinel said in an indignant manner, but no one listened to him.

"What kid?" Ratchet asked in genuine surprise.

Prowl and the others stared at Jazz, the same question reflected on their faces. Jazz smiled a bit, unsure what to make of that sudden attention to himself; then started telling his story.

"He came to the Elite Guard's Headquarters a few solar cycles after your disappearance. He was a polite young bot, but he was certainly agitated and impatient to see Ultra Magnus, or any other officer that was willing to listen to what he had to say."

Prowl leaned forward, wishing to hear the rest of the story. "Was he alone?" he asked.

"No," Jazz replied with a shake of his head. "A law enforcer was with him."

"Was he in some kind of trouble or something?" Bumblebee asked, blinking.

"Actually, no… the law enforcer was acting like some sort of guardian to the young bot. He kept touching the kid on the arm, talking to him calmly whenever the young one was about to lose his temper or start pacing up and down the room they were in."

No one saw Prowl clenching his hands into fists. "So what did the Elite Guard do?" he asked.

"Well, we saw to the request, and the kid got to address all the members of the Elite Guard in the main hall," Jazz said. "Apparently, his brother had gone missing, and the kid wanted the Elite Guard to help in rescuing him. He said that his brother's last known location was near a space bridge and, since no patrol discovered any wreckage, there was a chance that his brother's ship passed through said space-bridge. If we dispatched a small team that could recover the coordinates in which the space-bridge was set, we could travel through it and so find the missing ship and the missing brother."

Bulkhead smiled in approval. "Smart guy."

Jazz nodded.

"So why didn't the Elite Guard help?" Prowl asked then, optics locked on Jazz.

"How did you--?" the black and white ninjabot started, but then shook his head. "Right. I never said that we did," he said in a musing tone.

That had Sari frown quite visibly. "I don't understand. Aren't you guys supposed to help out in emergencies?"

"It's not that we didn't want to help, Sari," Jazz replied with a sigh. "But the kid's brother just wasn't in our priority."

"Okay, what's that supposed to mean?" Bumblebee asked, not really understanding.

"They wanted to find us first," Ratchet replied dryly. "We had the All Spark after all."

"But that's not fair!" Sari exclaimed.

"Well, life isn't always fair, organic," Sentinel replied with a snort. "We did ask him to wait till we found you and the All Spark, but that idiot wouldn't have it. He just stormed out of the main hall, bumping on me on his way out. He didn't even apologise to me, can you believe that?"

"No," Prowl said, his tone unnaturally cold. "You should have apologised to _him._"

He didn't wait to see Sentinel's affronted look or his friends' face of realisation when they finally made the connection. He just stood up and walked away, heading for the privacy of his room. Sentinel huffed and also exited the room, obviously believing that he had enough dealings with bots not worth his time for today; but Jazz was genuinely perplexed at Prowl's reaction. He turned to Ratchet and the others, hoping that they would explain to him what had just happened.

Ratchet fixed his optics on the black and white ninjabot. "Was the kid's name Silverstreak, by any chance?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

If Jazz was surprised before, now he was utterly stunned. He stared at the medic incredulously, optics wide underneath his visor. "Oh, slag…" he breathed out.

"You got that right," Bumblebee said in a wry tone.

That, apparently, was enough for Jazz. With a brief 'Excuse me', he rushed after Prowl so that they would talk. He knew where Prowl's room was, for he had seen it on his way inside the factory; so it wasn't long before he reached the bamboo screen that separated the particular room from the rest of the factory.

Though it was easy to simply pull the cord and pull up the screen, Jazz decided against it. He didn't wish to trespass if he wasn't wanted in the room.

"Prowl, it's me, Jazz. Can I come in?"

The only answer Jazz got was silence. Figuring that not hearing a flat out 'No' was a good thing, Jazz stepped inside.

"Prowl?" Jazz looked around, but he couldn't see his friend anywhere. That is, until he caught sight of something black behind the tree that dominated the room.

Jazz was certainly relieved to find Prowl; nevertheless he didn't know what to make of Prowl's persistent silence. Was the bot so angry that he had to control himself so as not to lash out? Was he so bitter that he wanted to be left alone? Deciding that he just had to find out, Jazz boldly approached, if only to make sure that Prowl was okay.

The black ninjabot remained seated on the same place, unmoving and his legs crossed. Jazz tilted his head, his audios picking up the familiar hum of engines functioning on the minimum. And, if Jazz looked close enough, he could see that Prowl's optics were dim, as though the mech was lost in thought.

Prowl was meditating. It was something that Jazz should have expected really. One of the first lessons all ninjabots learnt was to control their emotions, and neither Prowl nor Jazz were exceptions to that rule. Moreover, it was the black ninjabot's way of declaring that he wanted to regain his composure before he and Jazz talked.

That was a wish that Jazz intended to respect. However, it didn't mean that he would walk out of the room. Determined to have that talk with Prowl, the black and white bot activated his transmitter and contacted Ultra Magnus.

- Jazz to Commander. Do you read? – he asked in the secret frequency.

- I do, - Ultra Magnus' voice sounded from the other end of the link. - What is it, Jazz? –

- I request permission to remain off duty for the next 24 hours, – Jazz replied boldly.

- Is there a particular reason for this sort of request? – Ultra Magnus asked in mild surprise.

- There's a private matter I need to discuss with Autobot Prowl and it might take a while. –

Jazz heard a sigh quite clearly, and then Ultra Magnus spoke again. – Very well… but only 24 hours. –

- Yes, Sir. Thanks, Commander, - Jazz said, and ended the transmission. With that taken care of, he sat across from Prowl, and started meditating too. For Jazz didn't care how long it would take Prowl to finally open up; he would wait, and that was that. He had all the time in the world at his disposal, after all.

* * *

"Who told you?"

That was the first thing Prowl said, just as the first rays of sunlight shone through the broken ceiling and bathing everything with their warmth. Jazz's patience was finally rewarded.

"Ratchet kinda dropped the hint," Jazz admitted. He smiled, but that smile vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared. "I'm sorry, man. I didn't know."

Prowl simply nodded his understanding. It was the only answer needed.

Still, Jazz kept talking. "At least you'll get to see him now that we'll all return back to Cybertron."

Prowl locked his optics on Jazz, a strange smile on his lip components. "I have already seen him."

Jazz sat up, thinking that his audios played tricks on him. And yet Prowl kept smiling, something that made Jazz realise that Prowl wasn't kidding.

"How did that happen?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Simple. He was faster than you," Prowl answered.

"Crazy…" Jazz murmured, scratching his helm. "So where is he now?"

That sobered the black ninjabot. He bowed his head and looked at his hands, a sad expression on his face. "He's gone."

Jazz frowned under the visor. "Why? After the trouble he must have gone through…"

Prowl averted his gaze, wringing his hands in a nervous manner; an action that made Jazz realise that he was probably becoming indiscreet.

"Sorry," he said, and he got ready to get back on his feet.

"It was my fault."

Prowl's tone was so soft and filled with emotion that Jazz froze at once and faced his friend once more.

"What happened?" he asked.

And Prowl told him everything. Not only about the circumstances under which he and his brother finally met again after decades untold, but even about the circumstances under which they separated; Prowl's former job as a law enforcer, Oil Slick… and Silverstreak's blindness.

"He was blind?!" Jazz echoed in disbelief.

Prowl nodded.

"And you really had no idea?"

"I only found out when he arrived here."

Jazz couldn't help but let out a small whistle, quite impressed. "Double crazy…" he said. "What about that law enforcer?"

"It was probably Kup, our superior officer," Prowl answered. "After what happened with Oil Slick, he made Silverstreak his personal assistant, keeping him under his wing." He shook his head, saddened. "I suppose someone had to. _I _wasn't there."

Jazz stared at Prowl's face, detecting the look of guilt that was on his fellow ninjabot's features, and he sighed inwardly. Of course Prowl felt bad about the way things had turned out. He accused Silverstreak of abandoning him, when Prowl was the one who had really turned his back on his brother. Jazz didn't dare think how the kid must have felt when he suddenly found himself surrounded in perpetual darkness and his only family telling him that he didn't want to see him again. The irony was biting, to say the least.

"You can't do anything about that now, Prowl," he said, though he kept his tone kind and without any judgement. "You can't change the past."

"I still hoped I could change the future," Prowl answered. He uncurled his fingers, revealing a small badge shining in the black ninjabot's hands; a badge that Jazz recognised as a law enforcer's one. "He left this by the tree on the day he left. It's been three months since then, and he hasn't contacted me or at least pinpointed his location."

Now Jazz knew that that wouldn't do. "Hey, give your bro some credit, will you? If he came for you once, he's sure to come back again," he said, certainty ringing in his every word. "Just give him time."

Prowl's optics dimmed once more as the black ninjabot pondered on Jazz's words. "You sound like you know what you're talking about."

Jazz's lips tugged to a smile. "Let's just say that I had to handle brothers before," he said teasingly, and he stood up. "I'd better get us some energon. It was a long night."

"It was," Prowl admitted, getting on his feet as well. At the next moment, he placed a hand on Jazz's shoulder, something that made Jazz look at the black bot in a perplexed manner.

"Thank you," Prowl said sincerely.

Jazz's lip components tugged to a broad smile. "What are friends for?" he said, and he headed for the exit. But, just as he reached the doorstep, he stopped on his tracks, for it was then that another thought crossed his mind.

"Hey, uh… Prowl?"

"Yes?" Prowl asked, surprised.

"You'd better not tell SP about Silverstreak. If he ever finds out that a lone, _blind _bot found you guys first, he's bound to get a logic circuit or two fried."

A rare, mischievous smile flicked on Prowl's lip components. "And that is bad because…?"

In all fairness, Jazz at least pretended to think about it for a few seconds before chuckling.

"No idea," he replied, and he walked out.

**The End**


End file.
